Military Rot, Chapt. MCMXVII
June 6, 2016
DON VINCENZO writes:
There was a time when the U.S. Military Academies were thought to have one – and only one – purpose: to send its graduates, grounded in a “warrior culture,” to aid and abet the security of this nation. But that was then and now is now.
At the recent graduation of the midshipmen (I will not say or write, (“midshippersons”), the current Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter, announced that two of the graduates, Keenan Reynolds and Joe Cardona, would be allowed to “defer their military service” in order to fulfill their dream: play professional football. The fact that these two men knew that, upon entering the academy, there was a five year commitment to serve in the Navy as the quid pro quo of having drawn a monthly wage, as well as having their room and board paid for by the U.S. taxpayer, would not now be applied; Secretary Carter said so. The ruling applied retroactively to Cardona, a 2015 graduate, who has “fulfilled” his service obligations by working once a week at a Navy prep school and the rest of the week for the Boston Patriot football team. Yes, today’s “warriors” come in all shapes and sizes. Read More »